O Taste and See that the Lord is Good!

Unusual title, I know, but I chose that one for a specific reason for this weeks blog post:-) Every week I make my grocery list for the Farmers market, white envelope my money, and shop carefully to get the most "bang for my buck". Well, this week I didn't do anything different to prepare for my grocery shopping except I didn't buy anything! "not buy anything??!!" you say, yes, not buy anything. I didn't buy because the only farmers that were there were the herb and soap sellers. I don't like to eat soap nor do I need any herbs.:-) 

Hmmm...what do I do? I have this money all neatly tucked away in my wallet, I have a car to drive around in, and yet, I do not have a thing for the weeks groceries except some meat and potatoes from last week's shopping. 
My Mom was with me and she suggested we make another 30 minute drive to another market to see what they had. It was already late in the morning and there would be no guarantee that the other market would have anything.  I replied, " No, I don't know what we're going to eat this week because I am NOT buying that stuff at the store and I am NOT going to worry about it. God already knows all about it and He WILL PROVIDE because I've already asked Him to". 

Just an hour earlier, a friend of mine had called me and told me that she had some leftover veggies from her garden and she didn't want to bother with them this week because she had fresh stuff to deal with for the upcoming market in BS. She didn't say what she had or how much and I told her that I'd drop by on my way home and pick it up. I didn't think much about it because usually there's not much left over after a regular market day for her and I knew she was busy with other stuff this week and just didn't want to have to think about it.  BUT GOD KNEW!

I went by her house and when we pulled up in the driveway I saw the large box and bag on the porch:-) The box was full of two different kinds of peppers and onions and the bag held several eggplants! At the same time, my mom said that her bean plants had not been making all summer but just this week they decided to produce and were covered! So there, I didn't spend a dime and had enough vegetables to eat on for not just one week, but TWO! I didn't have to go the the store and buy tasteless watery gmo vegetables, nor buy anything canned, nor search the paper for a "free deal". I asked my Father for my daily bread and He gave me two weeks worth:-) I was then able to take what would have been my grocery money and bought milk and a month's (or more) worth of local raw honey. 

See, I had the money in hand and a car to drive to go pick it up, but I couldn't buy it because no one was selling it that day! They weren't selling because my Father was giving. We ask Him to show Himself to be real and then we don't expect to see anything happen! In these days of tighter budgets and skinnier wallets, we tend to think that we must be the ones to figure out how to make things stretch. We tend to think that "healthy" is unaffordable because of the price of the "organic" products on the shelf in the store.  We don't taste and see.  Now, the "easier" thing for me to have done would have been to resign myself to my set budget with a "woe-is-me-attitude because I can't afford the "organic stuff at the store" , gone and bought whatever was cheapest and eaten the nasty stuff with my "sacrificial" attitude. But, who would have gotten glory out of that? NO ONE. The only thing gotten would have been upset stomachs and a struggle with resignation that "I was too poor this week" (or irritation at the farmers for not meeting my needs:-) 

I have been guilty so many times of "making it work" on my own and have many times taken pride in my ability to do so.  A while back, as the chief cook in the family:-), I made a decision. I asked the Lord to help me feed my family only that which is truly good for them. I told the the Lord that I wanted to raise up a healthy family, not hindered by consistent illness and fatigue, in order to be physically effective for His service. I also told Him that I would do my part and work with whatever was available each week through my own garden and the gardens of others that He was going to bless. Now, that is a little scary!! When you step away from the conventional grocery store, you are stepping away from dependency on machinery and every kind of "....cide" known to commercial farming that can seemingly produce things to resemble what should grow in a garden.:-) 

I asked the Lord to use this area of my life as a way to grow me spiritually and as a way for my children to daily see the Lord provide in ways that only He could do. What an exciting thing it was for me to be able to share with my children the prayer of my heart and for them to visibly see the answer to Mommy's prayer on their plates every meal time! We pray "Lord, give us this day our daily bread..." and yet, every spare minute is spent on figuring out how we are going to make that happen.  Now, I don't really know what to do with eggplant, but I think I'll take my Dad's advice and "take a cooking class" on the internet;-) 

Stay at home mommies sometimes struggle with the feeling of not being "out there" in some grand and glorious endeavor that will show our children the power of God. What I have found is that I don't need to be "out there", I just need to be available to do what is right and to have the courage to leave it totally in God's hands! My children and I saw God this week in a powerful way and it has strengthened my faith to put more trust in Him than ever before! 

So, as you approach this new week, take courage and "TASTE AND SEE!"